Love Hexagons
by pirateylove
Summary: Hermione sorts through her feelings for Ginny while getting entangled in another love triangle. Femmeslash. It's 7th year for the trio and Harry's already defeated Voldemort. FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Takes place during the trio's 7th year. Except, Ron hadn't dated Lavender 6th year, and Harry and Ginny started dating at the beginning of the trio's 6th year. Hope that isn't too confusing.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Also, lyrics in the first chapter belong to the late Jonathan Larson, not me.

Every single day,

I walk down the street

I hear people say 'baby so sweet'

Ever since puberty

Everybody stares at me

Boys girls I can't help it baby

Rent, Take Me or Leave Me

That was Ginny Weasley. The girl everyone loved, the girl I felt so lucky to call my best friend. Head Girl was the only thing I had up on her. Course, she'd probably get that next year. Not that I was jealous of her; I was very confident. But still, she was amazing.

Her arm was linked with mine as we walked down the corridor on our way to the Yule Ball. Except, it wasn't just us, Harry was linked to her on the other side. They'd been dating again, since Harry's defeat over Lord Voldemort during the summer. Completely inseparable.

Since Ron had already left for the party, for what reason I dunno, we were only a threesome.

What an oddly almost perfect word.

Flashback

"Truth or Dare," I had said, toward the beginning of my sixth year. My curiosity about this had been killing me.

"All right," said Ginny, "Since it was your idea, you go first."

I asked Ginny how far she's gone with Harry. They'd only been dating a few months, and I already know this, but I can't think of anything else to ask.

Other "truth" questions continued like this. Until Ginny was looking at me.

"Snog Luna."

YES.

Not that I particularly wanted to snog Luna. I'm not even too keen on Luna as a person. But knowing what snogging a girl was like...had been on my mind awhile.

My tongue sloshed around in Luna's mouth while I tried to stop my nervous giggling. It was a bit embarrassing, really. It was interesting and fun. Not mind blowing by any means…but fun, sure.

"Snog Ginny," Luna said a bit later.

Why did my heart pound that much harder against my chest?

I remember seeing her green eyes coming closer until her beautiful lips brushed up against mine. I parted her lips with my tongue, but..

"No, not right away..." Ginny had said, and flashed that feisty little Weasley smirk at me.

"You do some of this first. You kiss my top lip," Kiss. "While I kiss your bottom lip," Kiss. "Like that." she said. "We switch back and forth for awhile. And then I'll ask for entrance, it's called."

If you haven't caught on by now, Victor, albeit the Quidditch star every witch wanted to kiss, wasn't exactly the best kisser. Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing once he opened his mouth. Couldn't even find his bloody tongue, it was like searching for the Golden Snitch.

After what seemed like an eternity of closed-mouthed kissing Ginny, she quickly ran her tongue ever so lightly against my bottom lip.

And of course I, like a bloody IDIOT, though it was so sexy that I couldn't open my mouth like a normal person so she could snog me. I had to pull away and open my mouth to tell her how sexy I thought it was.

She just flashed me another famous Weasley smirk and looked at me.

With those green eyes.

End Flashback

The Great Hall was absolutely gorgeous in tapestries of crimison and ebony coloured silk. The lights were dimmed. I looked across the hall to see Ron in black dress robes. Underneath were pin-striped black pants, a loosely buttoned black shirt, and a loose black leather tie.

BLOODY HELL.

Harry, Ginny, and I met Ron, got drinks, and meshed into a blob made up of mostly Gryffindors. I ignored Ron for the most part- we'd had the most confusing friendship for the past seven years, and a dance did nothing to help. Most of the time it seemed like a love-hate thing, but maybe it was more hate than love.

I had the wickedest crush on him, but I never knew if it was really reciprocated. I suppose I could have asked Ginny to ask if he liked me, but who knows if he'd really confide in his little sister, not to mention how juvenile it all sounded. Besides, it would be humiliating- only confirming my worst fear if it turned out he didn't. But Ginny was sure he felt something for me at one time, at least. Then again, she had never experienced rejection. If she liked someone, it was always mutual. So what did she know?

Ron was currently doing a sort of jokingly flirtatious dance with Romilda Vane, who was next to him in our sort of disfunctional circle. I knew it meant nothing, but I couldn't help wanting it to be me. I danced so that I was third farthest from Ronald's spot-- first there was Romilda, then Lavender, then me.

"So Lav, you're next, and then 'Mione, you're after?"

"Definitely." I grinned. Trying to play it cool. Not sounding too excited. I loved it when he called me 'Mione.

He moved to Lavender, an excellent dancer, to continue with the next part of the song.

I prayed the next song would be a slow song.

It was.

"I've got to have my go now," I said, flashing Ron a smile and falling into his arms.

I felt where my curves fit into his tall, thin, but toned frame. My arms dangled delicately from his shoulders, past his pretty, pretty long hair. I breathed in the scent of his hair. Something nice. I couldn't exactly place it, but it reminded me of my holiday in France a few years back.

His arms held me close, and his hands were in the small of my back. Did I imagine they moved a few centimeters down? Yes, I must have. Of course.

I kept him close to me for the next song, turning around so that he faced my back. We danced like this like for awhile, then I turned toward him, moving my body into his with the beat of the usual Weird Sisters song they had to play at every Hogwarts Yule Ball. He held me so close, and I felt where my curves fit into his thin but Quidditch-toned frame. We were dancing cheek-to-cheek now, because it was more comfortable to not have to look into his eyes.

I looked over at the rest of our group, smiling hugely at everyone watching me dancing with Ron. I felt alive at a dance in a different way than I felt normally. Normally I wasn't the girl snogging someone in the corridor while everyone either rolled their eyes, called us a cute couple, or walked past because it was such an ordinary thing. But starting with the Yule Ball in my fourth year, I started to love the feeling of being beautiful for a night, feeling like the kind of girl Ginny was every day.

After looking at our group, I went back to the cheek-to-cheek position we were dancing in. Somehow I found his nose touching mine. I guess he slid his face back a bit so we were like this. I saw his lips inches from mine.

Good god, he's going to kiss me, I began to think.

Except he's not, because I definitely don't snog on the dance floor in front of people. I can feel cute and flirty at dances, but I'm not one for being all public about snogging. Not that I wouldn't want to…it just didn't happen for me. I didn't want to be the one to make the first move, because maybe I accidentally nuzzled into his face and this was as close as he wanted to get. Maybe he wasn't moving away because he wanted to be polite.

I stared at his lips for what seemed to be an eternity until they finally took mine, so strong. I honestly felt like I couldn't be in my own body then. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but considering that I had only had one relationship, Victor, that I wasn't that public about, I couldn't see myself as the girl who could get a guy to snog her in front of people. I knew I wanted to bottle this moment forever, and I tried to record every move in my mind, but I couldn't, it was an intoxicating blur. I let the moment take me away. No thought was necessary.

After a long time our lips parted.

"What do you want to do now?" he asked, his voice a bit deeper than usual, although in a whisper.

I led him by the hand to a bench, where we sat side by side, with my legs over his left leg. My hands were first on his neck, then I couldn't help myself and went back to playing with his hair.

His gorgeous red hair.

While I was doing this, his hands were feeling along the small of my back. He squeezed my waist constantly. It made me think of when I was talking to Ginny and feeling self-conscious about the bit of weight I had around my hips, and she said boys like something to grab onto. I traced around his jawline, and then down to his neck where his shirt was unbuttoned. It was odd, here was the part where I was used to having something more to grab onto….I'll explain later.

His hand slid up from my knee under my dress to the top of my thigh, then back again. Thank Merlin I shaved. But it was hot. Wanting to do the same to him, my fingers danced up the inside of his leg, teasing him just barely, then remained on his waist. I clutched his loose, black leather tie, and the kiss intensified. We had little, fast kisses that would have led to us going farther if we hadn't been in a Hall full of people at the moment.

When at last it ended, we nuzzled together, at a complete loss for words. I felt like I should say something, but I had no idea what. Our heads just rested together, at a sort of almost-kiss, but I was almost scared to initiate anything. I don't know what I thought would happen— he wouldn't reject me, after he had just spent the past half an hour or so snogging me senseless, but I dunno.

"Let's get some butterbeer", said Ron.

We walked over to the drinks table to find Ginny, Harry, and the whole rest of the group. Our hands had been intertwined while walking, my thumb rubbing against his thumb ring, but we dropped hands when we reached the group. We made some small talk, but I didn't know what I was saying. I couldn't wait to talk about it later with Ginny, even though it was her brother.

We only had time for a few more dances, then it was midnight. It all seemed over far too soon. Ginny and Harry were snogging, in no hurry to leave, while Ron and I just looked at each other.

"You wanna go back to the common room?" I said.

"Sure."

We walked back up the stairs, saying hi to a few people as we went, talking about ordinary, dumb stuff I don't remember. The common room was brightly lit, in contrast to the dark Great Hall. Something about the darkness had calmed my nerves, and now, it was scary to kiss him in the light. I didn't want to have to initiate it…I hated initiating. I guess I was sort of testing him, in a way. I pulled him close, and we nuzzled together for a moment, but neither of us leaned in for a kiss. He finally stepped away, and with a smile that made me melt, said, "G'night, 'Mione."

I curled up on the couch and watched him go upstairs. A burst of happiness exploded in my chest.

Harry and Ginny entered the Common Room then. She looked at me, with my ridiculously huge smile on my face, and leaned in to Harry to say, "I've got to have some girl time with 'Mione. Night, Love." She leaned in to give him a slow kiss.

As soon as Harry left, I squealed, "I snogged Ron! I'm sorry, it's weird, he's your brother, but wow, Gin. My night was brilliant."

She grinned at me.

"No, no, I get it. So you think anything's going to happen?"

"I don't know. I have this weird feeling it might, but I honestly have no idea. And the funny thing is, I don't even care…I mean, I do care, but tonight was so amazing I don't even feel like I need anything more with him."

It was true. Of course I wanted more, but it was almost enough.

"I hope it works out. I'm really happy for you, Love."

My heart jumped a little at her calling me "Love". But then, it had been pretty much been doing back handsprings since I was at the ball with Ron.

With a sigh of complete happiness I fell onto my bed on my back. I didn't worry about falling asleep, I knew the adrenaline rush that was keeping me up would keep me awake tomorrow, too.


	2. Chapter 2

Next day was Monday, time to fly back down to earth.

The next day, I waited at the top of the stairs by the dungeons, where I usually stood after Ancient Runes to talk to Harry and Ron before we went to Potions. But there was only Harry today, clearly avoiding my eyes.

"Where's Ron? Didn't you just have Trelawney's excuse for a class with him?", I said, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him around.

"Er, yeah. He forgot a book, had to go back to the common room."

"Honestly, Harry, just tell me."

Just then there was a flash of red hair heading down to the dungeons. We were going to be late, so with a sigh, I went down the stairs, angry at both of them.

Harry could be so thick sometimes.

Flashback

"Harry can be so thick sometimes," Ginny said, her head resting on my lap as I played with her hair. I did love to play with hair.

It was the middle of my sixth year. Harry had a meeting with Dumbledore, and he wouldn't be back till late that night. He couldn't go to Hogsmeade with all of us, so Ginny and I decided to take advantage of having the dormitory to ourselves until about midnight. No one else would be back until around then, either.

"I mean, I know he's got all this rubbish with You-Know-Who to worry about, and it's not even rubbish, I'd be worried too, but I wish he'd let me help, he's being so distant, and I hate it."

She sat up. "Boys are stupid, Hermione."

"I know they are. Stupid enough not to have kissed me in way too long."

"I can make up for that any time you want," she said in her raspy voice, pulling a stray hair back from over my eyes and meeting my lips with hers.

End Flashback.

During Potions, I watched Ron be the quietest he ever was during a Potions class, while Harry gave me a glance and then whispered something to him.

Just talk to me, how hard is it?

Suddenly, Potions was over and I was walking to Transfiguration by myself, pissed at Harry that he wouldn't just tell me. Fine, Ron didn't want anything more, but I'd never given the impression that I wasn't strong enough to take rejection. I was Hermione Granger, the girl who had both the brains and the guts to deal with anything.

"Hermioneweneedtotalk," I heard the voice behind me said.

I turned around.

"Yeah, no kidding." There was more than a little sarcasm in my voice.

"Last night, I just got caught up in the moment. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I don't really have time for a relationship right now."

"Yeah, me too. I mean, I thought it was great, but I get that."

Understatement of the century. But I wasn't about to let him know it was the best kiss of my life. At least, the best boy-kiss. The best kiss I could admit to my best friend.

I could buy the "don't have time for a relationship" thing. He's not the best Quidditch player, and he's always been trying to one-up Harry on that. And his marks are hardly something to brag about, especially in Transfiguration and Potions, and his mum was on him all summer about NEWTs.

And surprisingly, I didn't feel as let down as I should have. I think a lot of it was the huge, built-up crush over the years, and feeling like something should happen, even if it didn't work out. I still wanted him. But it was nice kissing a guy, something I hadn't done since Viktor at the end of my fourth year. It was nice knowing that people saw me kiss that guy.

It was nice knowing that I could talk about someone I kissed, that it wouldn't have to be a secret.

Alright, I'll admit, I loved snogging Ginny. We'd snogged maybe six times, and it was bloody fantastic. No, I'm not going to pretend I don't know exactly how many times it was. I know it was exactly six times. I'd been curious about girls since the beginning of fourth year.

Flashback

"Everyone has girl crushes, Mione, it doesn't necessarily mean you're….ya know…"

"Yeah, but I felt something a bit more."

"Me too," she said quietly, "But I don't want to do anything more than we've done, cause then I'd feel like I'm cheating on Harry."

End Flashback

We could both like boys and whatnot, but how was it not cheating if she had felt more than "oh, this is sort of fun" with me?

I felt like I should feel like rubbish about it, but I didn't. I wasn't in love with her, I didn't secretly hope she'd dump Harry for me, but I'd hate it we had to stop. It was just lust.

The next few weeks went by. No Ginny. No Ron. Nothing. I buried myself in my studies, as usual when there was no romance.

Well, at least no romance for me.


	3. Chapter 3

The first time I noticed them was when I was walking pretty normally, actually, to Potions with Ron. We were talking about exams, nothing major, things felt fine. But as soon as we sat down around the cauldron Harry, Ron, and I usually shared….

"Oy, Lavender!" Ron shouted across the room, and went to sit next to her. A bit close, I thought. She shifted her weight toward him, nodding vigorously at something he was saying, then laughing…not obnoxiously, just laughing…at some joke he had made.

He did this every day for about a week, and I was sure something was going on. So I wasn't at all surprised when I caught them doing an equally unpleasant-looking reenactment of the Dementor's Kiss outside of the stairs that led to the dungeon.

C'est la effing vie.

…..

It was a week that seemed like a century until Gin was blabbing about something stupid Luna had done in Transfiguration.

"D'you want some gum?" she asked.

More blabbering.

"It's late but I don't want to go to bed, what do you want to do?"

"…What we always do, Gin."

"I don't want to get caught, you know how last time Neville almost.." 

"I don't care about fucking Neville."

"Mmkay."

"Dammit, Ginny, chew faster."

After the snogging….

"Can you run your nails on my back? D'you mind if I take my top off? You've seen me in my bra before.."

No, Ginny. I've spent the past three hours lying on top of you on a bed, sucking your face senseless, but I totally couldn't deal with you in your bra.

"I like how your nails feel, nobody else has nails," she murmured.

"You're amazing. You're wonderful." She breathed sleepily. She shivered a little under my touch.

…..

There they were again, Lavender and Ron. Bloody hell, did they have to snog outside the bloody potions class every day?

It was odd, because I felt like I should be angry more than I actually was angry. I watched them a bit. They were honestly a quite good-looking couple. Lavender's hands looked so delicate and sure stroking Ron's neck. I found myself looking at the way her curves brushed up against Ron.

I mean, sure Ron and I would still be friends. The awkwardness would wear off after awhile. We didn't even have to be friends. Yeah, I'd miss him, but maybe it wasn't supposed to be.

"Erm, 'Mione? I'd love you forever if you let me copy your History of Magic notes," said Ron that night, a bit tentatively.

Professor Binns was nice enough, well meaning enough, but I honestly couldn't stand his teaching style (as much as I was attentive in class). It simply wasn't effective on 99 of the class.

I sighed, handing the parchment over. "Sure."

"That was quick," Ron's voice was shocked. "You never give in that fast. Does this mean you're not still….or do you still have….not that I…."

Stuck on you? Have feelings for you? Not that you do for me?

"You arrogant little prick, Ronald," I muttered. I just wanted him to leave me alone. I needed to focus on school, my own sanity, Ginny as a friend only, and getting a real girlfriend.

….

Two weeks later, Ron tackled me as I was heading into the common room with one of those suck-the-life-out-of-you hugs. I tried to inhale but couldn't, he was crushing me.

"Ehcnbrth," I muttered.

"We broke up," said Ron, not bothering to apologize. "She dumped me, AND GUESS FOR WHO? PARVATI PATIL! SHE'S A BLOODY LESBIAN! But what I was meaning to ask, is will you give me a second chance? Do I still have a shot? We've been friends for a long time, I think it could work, at least you're not a bloody les—"

"Er, actually Ron," I said, figuring now was as good a time as ever, "I am, at least mostly. And no, I won't, you don't even know what you want, you're just reaching for what you think you should do."

I left him with that stupid look on his face and curled up with Hogwarts: A History, feeling more satisfied than I had in months.

Hmm. Parvati and Lavender. Guess Gin and I weren't the only two Gryffindor girls who weren't exactly straight as an arrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Lavender sat across down across the table from me. It was Saturday, and Ginny was working at Honeydukes again.

"Hey. I've got that shirt but it looks massively better on you."

I looked down to see what shirt I was wearing. It was just a black shirt that said "Gryffindor" on it I'd bought in the school shop. Not a lot of people had it, surprisingly.

Did make my boobs look FANTASTIC, though.

"Thanks," I grinned.

"So what were you planning on doing today?" asked Lavender.

"Probably going to the library. I'm so behind in Charms, plus we've got that Potions essay, and then there's—"

"Oh," Lavender looked disappointed, "I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me. Parvati's working a short shift at Honeydukes, then we could all hang out. Ginny Weasley, too, if you want. But really, I know you just came out to Ron, and I know the closest you and I have really gotten is swapping spit through Ron, but I've obviously been there. I can be there, if you want."

"Wow," I said, slightly taken aback. "I'd actually like to take you up on that." My impression of Lavender before had been that she was sort of stupid, but then again, Ron was hardly a genius, and Harry wasn't brilliant with books, except Defense Against the Dark Arts. I needed to stop being so elitist; she was being sweet.

As we began walking to Hogsmeade….

"So congrats on you and Parvati," I said, "I always knew you were close, and honestly a few times it actually did cross my mind that you were together."

Lavender fiddled with her ring a bit, and the sun accentuated the layers in her brown hair. Today she had it down, with a bit of fringe falling in her face.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty common, falling for your best friend. I'm surprised you and Ginny never got together."

I guess I'm horrible at concealing my emotions, because the next thing out of Lavender's mouth was, "Oh my gawd. You must have felt awful when she started dating Harry."

We stopped walking. I felt so exposed, but not necessarily in a negative way. It was cleansing, being able to admit it to someone, especially someone who had been through something similar. I hated the fact that I couldn't tell anyone, because it would completely ruin Ginny and Harry's relationship- someone was sure to tell.

I was ready for a relationship that was completely open to everyone. I hadn't been able to be that serious with Viktor because he was working on the tournament and Karkaroff had been an arse about it. Plus I thought a bit of mystery might make Ron jealous and imagine something beyond what was actually going on.

Lavender sat down on the baren hill that was waiting for snow, and patted the ground for me to sit down. I did, turning toward her in almost the same way my shoulders faced Ginny before a snogging session.

"Ehrm, actually, it was after she started dating Harry." I heard myself saying. "We've just been snogging here and there, sporadically throughout the past year or so, and I really like it and I'm not quite ready to stop. I'm not in love with her, but I know I need to get a real girlfriend."

"Absolutely, that's really difficult," Lavender nodded earnestly. Her brown eyes were so big…Ron really did like similar things in girls…and she chewed on her lip. She had a beauty mark on the right side of her mouth above her upper lip that seemed to suit her perfectly.

She went on. "It's not a really fair situation, but I can understand why you'd have a hard time calling it off if it's available. I had a few flings before I got up the nerve to tell Parvati how I felt, but it was never with my best friend. You're gorgeous, though, you'll definitely find someone who you can have something real with."

I gave her a grateful hug. As we got up to go, Lavender said, "Ehrm, I'm guessing it might be awkward for you if it's me, Parvati, Ginny, and you, like we said. What do you want to do? You're still welcome to go with me and Parvati for lunch."

"Well, Ginny's got a long shift anyway. You and Parvati probably want some private time after lunch, but I'd love to go to lunch."

As we entered Honeydukes I spotted Ginny nowhere. But maybe I was caught up in the blur that was Lavender and Parvati racing toward each other.

"Hey babe, how was work? You ready to go on break?" Lavender looked incredibly happy. They both held each other around the waist, facing one another.

"Am I ever. D'you have any idea how many blokes make passes at me now that we're out as a couple? And I work in the _best_ place too," Parvati said sarcastically, pointing to all the sweets, "If I had a sickle for every joke I've heard about Drooble's Best BLOWING Gum, honestly. It's revolting."

Lavender laughed, "Aww Vati. I can't say I blame them entirely, though."

Parvati stood on tiptoe to kiss Lavender, even though she didn't really need to. It wasn't the petting Lavender and Ron did, it was just a very close embrace.

It was beautiful.

"Hi Hermione, " said Parvati.

"Oh, right. I invited Hermione to lunch with us, since she's just out and all, I thought it might be nice. That all right?" said Lavender, reaching for Parvati's hand and entangling it with her own near her shoulder.

"Oh sure," Parvati beamed. "Where to, the Hog's Head?"

In the Hog's Head we discussed Ginny a bit, although I swore Parvati to secrecy…which wasn't hard, considering Lavender (albeit playfully) said she wouldn't do anything more than kiss her if she told.

We bounced back and forth in between snippets of advice and just talking.

"Don't worry about trying to find a girl, wait till there's someone you really want."

"So the Giant Squid, a merman, and a dragon walk into a bar…."

I studied the two of them together. I'd figured out a long time ago that relationships weren't something you could memorize the answers to, the way I used to with school. But I wanted to somehow bottle up all the little things they did and remember to use it in my next relationship.

I felt like I had learned more that day than in five days of school. Okay, maybe two.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to the two people who reviewed! Of course I'd love some more reviews, so please take a second and let me know what you think. I'm sorry for being such a slow updater, but it'll be great when it's done. Anyway, let me know what you like or what you think can be improved! –K.

---------------

After that day, there was some kind of unspoken understanding between Lavender and me.

I was in the library a few days later browsing through histories of house-elf enslavement when I suddenly realized that clump of cloaks down the aisle was Lavender and Parvati snogging. I looked away- I always felt awkward watching other people kissing. Like they were watching me watching them, thinking I was weird. Even though when I was the one publicly snogging (however rarely), I had no clue if anyone was looking or not, I was too wrapped up in what I was doing.

"Hermione!" I heard Lavender's voice.

"Hi Lavender," I said, feeling a bit awkward.

"What're you up to?" She removed her legs from across Parvati's lap and curled them underneath herself.

"Oh, you know, just scouting out the best snogging section in the library, I guess I've found it."

I'd meant it somewhat sarcastically, but she laughed a big, genuine laugh. Guess I'm funny sometimes. "Does that mean the girlfriend hunt's going well?" she asked.

"I wish," I sighed, "It'll work out in time though."

Parvati looked at Lavender and cleared her throat while stroking Lavender's inner wrist and tossing her own hair to the side. Merlin did she have a lot of hair.

Lavender gave me an apologetic look and said, "I absolutely want to finish this conversation later, but I think I should take advantage of the best snogging spot in the library."

I'd want to take advantage of those full lips and deep eyes of hers too. If I was Parvati, I mean.

I have no ruddy clue why I just thought that.

….

"Hey you," Lavender said in that semi-flirtatious manner that she used to make several people guess if she was actually flirting with them. She wasn't nearly as much a flirt as Ginny, but she had that quality about her. She sat next to me on the davenport, with one leg under her and the other dangling on the floor. She placed an arm on the back of the davenport

"I like your hair when you've got your bangs forward like this, not pushed back," I let myself say as I combed her hair forward with my fingers. I touched her almost too delicately, afraid of making it too sexual, even though it really wasn't at all. There was a gorgeous streak of gold she had magically placed in her bangs, and it was mesmerizing.

She stretched and her white blouse slid up to reveal a flat little stomach and slim waist. Talk quickly turned to girls.

"So what's your type, 'Mione?"

"Brunette or redhead. 'Bout my height. Pretty hair and eyes."

Was I just grasping onto her because she was the first real (however remote) possibility of what I wanted right now? I mean, I'd known the girl forever, but suddenly she was so attractive. Then again, the same thing had happened with Ginny.

"D'you want to listen to something new? I've got the Whomping Willows new single and it's bloody fantastic." Lavender tapped her wand against her ear and whispered an incantation into it. Suddenly the wand emitted music.

"Wow, yeah, I love them," I said. "I'm so sick of the Weird Sisters. This is great."

"The first time Parvati and I made love it was to a Weird Sisters song," Lavender sighed nonchalantly.

"Was it good?" I asked. I'm obviously a virgin, and as much as hearing other people talk about sex intrigues me in both an emotional way and a more technical way, I feel awkward that I don't have stories to share. So I always go with "was it good?"

"Mmm yes," she said as she closed her eyes and lowered herself onto her back on the pillow, apparently reliving the experience. "So when was your first time?" she asked, casually picking at a fingernail.

Maybe not so obviously a virgin. I was flattered that she thought I was experienced, but the farthest I had ever gone was….

Flashback

I was lying on Ginny's bed and running my tongue along her bottom lip. My hands were tracing just above the lacy lining of the dark purple camisole she was wearing. Her hands on my hips pulled my hips into hers.

Suddenly I ran my index finger slightly below the lace. She wasn't wearing a bra. I slid my hand slowly down—slow enough so she could remove it if she wanted, but she let me cup her breast. My thumbnail played with her nipple. My hand pressed into her breast, moving it up and down, and she kissed me with more passion and pulled me close.

End Flashback

"Erm, I've barely done anything, honestly," I said, reaching for my knitting things and moving to sit by the fire. "I'm just cold, I'm still listening to you though." It was true; I didn't want her to think I was upset or embarrassed by my lack of sexual experience, because I really wasn't. "So where's Parvati?" I asked.

Lavender moved to sit next to me and said, "She got bitten by some mad Blast-Ended Skrewt. They gave her a sleeping potion, so she's supposed to get a lot of sleep tonight to help heal it, and then she's supposed to be in top shape tomorrow. I conjured roses for her right before she fell asleep. You should know about Skrewts, d'you think she'll be better tomorrow?"

"That's sweet. Yes, she should be." I said, turning to look Lavender in the face and see how the fire light flickered against her face.

"Hey, Hermione, do you think you could tutor me sometime in advanced transfiguration? I'm just not getting it, and I'd like to. You're brilliant, I know you could make me understand."

"Sure, I'd love to, just let me know when you have time," I tried not to allow my voice to betray my euphoria.

"Well, I've got to get my rest," she said. I stood up, but Lavender, still sitting, raised her arms and looked up at me, waiting for me to help her up. I held her hands, but I barely needed to pull her up—she sprung up as though practically weightless.

We walked toward the girls' dormitories to go to bed. We both reached for the handle of the door at practically the same time, and as I began to open it, Lavender sighed, "Oh, I was going to be a gentleman and hold the door for you." I made a mental note to allow her to next time.

….

Next morning I walked down to breakfast with Ginny.

"Ginny, I never see you anymore, you're always working in Hogsmeade,"

"Well, yeah, Hermione, some of us don't actually have any money, especially after all those months in hiding this past summer." She cringed. "Oh 'Mione, that came out all wrong. I'll make it up to you."

"How about tonight after lessons?"

"Oh I wish, but Harry and I have got plans to practice Quidditch, just us, for fun. It's sort of a couple thing, we bond over it. It doesn't hurt how he looks in those robes either," her voice was excited as much as she tried to sound sorry.

"Fine, you make the plans, but make them soon," I said, trying not to sound snippy.

"I said I was sorry! And by the way, why is Lavender your new best friend all of a sudden? I thought she was dating Parvati, and apparently she shagged that absolutely revolting Millicent Bulstrode," Ginny said disgustedly.

"Because she's actually really nice and genuine and understands what it's like to actually like a girl. What do you care about her private life?" I defended myself.

"Well, word around the sweet shop is that she's rather a whore. I thought you appreciated quality people." You could tell Ginny absolutely thought she was right, and trying to say it in the nicest way possible, but I still snapped.

"When did you become such a snob, Ginny? Just because you're loved by everyone and dating the most popular boy in probably the whole wizarding world doesn't mean you have to put people down. That's exactly what Voldemort did. Learn to give people a chance."

"That's entirely different and you know it, Hermione, not everything is your little cause. So much for brutal honesty, I guess I'll let you make your own mistakes."

I slung my bookbag over my shoulder and left without saying a word. I didn't have a lot of really close friends outside of Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Harry and Ginny were ridiculously caught up in each other, and I think Ron was still recovering from the holy-hippogriffs-I-snogged-my-best-girl-friend-now-she's-gay thing. Lavender was a really decent person, what was everyone's problem?


	6. Chapter 6

A few days later Lavender and I met in the library for a tutoring session. It was mostly paperwork at first, but later we moved onto the practical wand bit. It was turning an animal into its prey, so we went to the owlery to fetch one of the school owls. We took it outside by the moat.

"No," I had to say, "You want to grip the wand more and it's more of a backwards flick." One of her gorgeous slender fingers was extended on the chestnut-coloured wand. I placed my hand on top of hers and flicked the wand with what I hoped was authority.

"God your hands are cold, 'Mione," Lavender

"Yeah I know, they always are," I placed my hands at the base of my head and held my neck for warmth. When I removed them from my neck, Lavender stuck her wand in her back pocket and took my hands in hers and squeezed them together.

……….

On the way to something like our twelfth tutoring session (this one was in the Transfiguration classroom, not the library), I walked down the corridors. Harry and Ron were up ahead. I suppose I must have been possessed by Rita Skeeter at that moment, because I got the sense I should eavesdrop.

"I've decided she out right can't keep a relationship, mate. Parvati looked so bloody angry, worse than I took it even. I thought she was going to hex Lavender on the spot," Ron shook his head.

"Guess I'm lucky with Ginny."

"Well, you were already lucky, I mean—The Boy Who Lived. Twice." Ron's voice had a sense of awe where resentment used to be.

"Sure, but I know I'll never have to worry about Gin leaving me. Especially for another girl," Harry said with confidence.

"Merlin's pants Harry, she's my sister!" Ron was disgusted.

If they only knew. I turned down another hall and took a staircase to a spare classroom we were meeting in because it was too cold outside to work. Huh. So Lavender and Parvati had broken up.

When I entered the classroom I sat at a spare desk and tried to look nonchalant while waiting for her. Then I heard a sniff that made me jump.

She was sitting against the wall a ways behind me. She looked up: "Oh hi 'Mione, I'm sorry but I really don't feel like studying today. I've had an awful time with Parvati…we broke up."

I moved to sit beside her and tilted myself toward her. Her mascara was smeared, and although I could clean the marks away with a spell, I ran one thumb under one eye, then the other thumb under the opposite one.

She began to rant on and on about the break up. "I really thought things would work out with Parvati, I really liked her. But she's always working and I hate that we can't spend as much time together as I want. And she's my best friend, I want her as that too. But sometimes she seems a little too much like she just wants to be that. Maybe we're too much of the same person to be a couple, maybe we should just be friends, I don't know." I helped her up.

"Yeah, it's not easy," I said, being able to relate a little of that to Ginny. "I'm sorry." I wanted to…could I? Bring myself to kiss her on the head? It was a dumb little thing that loads of perfectly straight girls did all the time, it wasn't professing my feelings or anything.

But it was awkward because I did have feelings, it would mean something. Mentally performing a banishing spell on any awkwardness, I hugged her. It was more of a squeeze, but that doesn't sound emotional, so let's go with embrace. God, this was worse than me agonizing on a word choice in most essays. It was so tight, so secure, and I could feel how much she needed it from the way she hugged back. I nestled in the crook of her neck and pulled my head back slightly so I could kiss her lightly right above her ear. As I pulled my head back my lips lightly brushed her neck, in a way that was just barely sensual….it wasn't like I kissed her neck.

I felt her pull her arms away first and I withdrew too, disappointed that she let go first.

But then she stunned me more than the strongest stunning spell in the world.

She put her finger under my chin and tilted my chin up slightly. It wasn't abrupt or anything, but it seemed to happen so fast that I wasn't aware of it until her sweet, full lips were pressed into mine.

And then she pulled back again, "I shouldn't be kissing someone so soon after breaking up with Parvati." No, please don't be another Ron. Shit.

"But dammit Hermione, I really feel like we connect somehow. Can we maybe see where this goes?" Absolutely. I nodded.

Just then the door of the classroom opened, and it was Ron.

"Hi Hermione. Oy, Lav, sorry about the breakup. That's got to be difficult," he

She offered him what I took to be an appreciative sort of smile. Then she glanced at me and glanced at him with an awkward sort of look and said, "Yeah, well, I just told Hermione and she was a massive help. I think I'm gonna go talk a walk now, but I'll be fine. See you both later." As she left Ron's back was to her, and she flashed me one of those smiles where her teeth almost glinted with a little spark in the corner, like the cartoon characters I watched when I was little.


	7. Chapter 7

[Author's Note: Hi! I know I've been really lazy about updating this…I'll try to get better. I'm not terribly thrilled with this chapter, but it's about time I updated. Keep leaving reviews and stuff. Rating will go up to Mature about Chapter 9 or 10. When I'm done with this story or maybe in a few more chapters I'll also include a mix that goes with it--- probably mostly indie rock/rop, some of which will be British.

I walked around on my next free hour looking for Lavender until I found her, zooming around on a broom over the lake, near the Quidditch pitch. I just watched how graceful she was until she saw me, did a few flips to show off, I guess, and sailed to the ground. She landed in front of me with her mouth open slightly—I couldn't focus on anything but her lips--- which said, "Hey, you want to grab that broom over there and come fly with me?" She cocked her head to the side to indicate a pile of the spare brooms, then she was off again.

I'd never had much practice on brooms. They tried to teach us first year, but after that I'd never had much need to use one--- floo powder and apparition were both much more practical forms of transportation, plus flying honestly scared me—but I grabbed a broom anyway, kicked off from the ground…

And got about six feet in the air before hitting the ground again. Wasn't like I fell on my face, but it wasn't a Viktor Krum wronksy faint either.

"Lavender! I really can't fly….can you help me?"

She was about 50 feet in the air and off a ways, so I expected to have to shout a few times, but she was there in a flash.

"You know what, it's better if you ride on my broom anyway," she said.

Tell me that doesn't sound sexy.

That was the great thing about Lavender. I was mostly pretty confident, but it seemed like even though we still didn't know everything about each other, she seemed to understand that I had some insecurities. I did feel stupid for not knowing how to ride a broom—I mean, it's a typical thing, you think of a witch on a broom….everyone knows how to ride a broom. But not only did Lavender not go there, she made it into a positive thing.

She landed and I straddled the broom behind her, wrapping my arms loosely around her waist. Then she kicked off and I squealed like a three-year-old, and squeezed her tight.

Lavender laughed and reached an arm back, stroking my back, "Aw, you're adorable when you're scared," Then she switched arms and stroked a hand through my hair, just once, "Tell me if you really want to get off though."

"Never! I'm scared, but it's absolutely worth it," I said into her hair. Which incidentally smelled like strawberries. Yum.

"Well good. I really like you, Hermione. And don't think it's just a rebound thing. Hopefully you've got the same sort of attitude toward riding on my broom as you do with relationships." I felt her body tense up a little and then she said, "And I meant 'riding on my broom' in the least sexual way possible, although I would like that too."

"Yes!"

What? Lavender was my girlfriend now? Let's see, I was still the top of my class, the war had been over for months now, and I had not only a girlfriend, but a hot, really genuine, funny, wonderful girlfriend.

……….

This is the type of news a girl shares with her best friend, so after classes (Lavender still had one more, Divination), I ran over to Honeydukes.

"Ginny!" I sort of pounced onto the counter at Honeydukes, grinning an almost over-compensating grin. "I've got to tell you something."

"Alright, tell," Ginny intricately arranged some sugar quills in a jar.

"It's more of a sit-down thing, Gin," I tried not to sound impatient.

"I can take a break in an hour."

Finally she sat down.

[Ooh, cliffhanger! Review please


	8. Chapter 8

Finally Ginny sat down on the bench beside me.

"Okay, Gin, so Lavender and I going out and I'm really happy." I said this very quickly.

"Oh," Ginny paused and looked down, like she didn't know what to say, then continued, "Well, I hope it works out. I'm happy you're happy." She sounded like she was trying really, really hard to be happy for me, and I gave her credit for it.

"I am. Very happy," I stared intently into her eyes, like I was trying to transmit how I felt into her.

"So tell me about it!" Ginny said brightly. This time it sounded more genuine. Maybe it really was, maybe her first reaction was just that she was surprised, and maybe she felt catty for calling Lavender a whore before.

I launched into how she asked me, the kiss, everything. It felt really good to be able to talk to Ginny about it.

The next day Lavender had said she'd meet me down at breakfast. I took my normal spot by Ginny, Harry, and Ron—and I hadn't been devouring my omellete long until I felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around my stomach and a head snuggling into my neck.

"Ello," Lavender pecked my head, and sat beside me.

"That was rather friendly," grinned Harry, clearly thinking what he had said was a good joke.

I opened my mouth, about to say something—what exactly I had no idea—when Ron jumped in.

"Yeah, I'd join in that one!"

It was slightly offensive, but it didn't make me want to rip his head off. I had won—I'd gotten his ex-girlfriend, so I felt like I was basically on top of the world.

"Actually, we are together," I announced, "So yeah, I'm incredibly happy, and no, you can't join."

"I can't believe," began Lavender, "that it's taken me nearly seven years to realize how gorgeous and incredible this girl is." Lavender stroked my knee under the table and I leaned in to kiss her.

Harry looked encouraging, and Ron just wore that dumb expression he'd had when I told him I liked girls.

All of a sudden, Ginny verbally sliced into Harry and Ron, "And if either of you act like an arse about it—Harry I won't touch you, and Ron, you'll never be able to procreate." 

"Gin, I hope you know you don't have anything to worry about," Harry looked at her intensely.

"Yeah, s'fine," Ron said between bites.

Wow, Ginny, I didn't really think it was necessary—as much as they're normal (in some ways) boys, they'd been my best friends for years and they supported minorities like house-elves and muggle-borns. But I did appreciate her being so aggressively on my side… even when it seemed a little too aggressive.

We walked out of Transfiguration, the last lesson of the day. I had gotten 100 on the last exam, which wasn't exactly an ego-boost since I nearly always did. But at least it kept my mood pretty high.

"This probably sounds massively self-centered," said Lavender, taking hold of my hand, "But it feels so good to be with someone who's intelligent. Neither Ron nor Parvati were anywhere near as smart as you, obviously."

"Well you got an 85, that's something to be excited about."

"Well thanks," she smiled.

We were now in the Common Room, which was mostly empty except for a few sixth years. I sat on the love seat and Lavender stood in front of me with her weight on one hip, which made her look stunning.

"So if you're so brilliant, Miss Granger, explain why we haven't snogged yet!"

I raised my hand in an impression of my first-year self, then laughed as Lavender sat in my lap. She was just pressing her tongue into my mouth when…

"I thought Hermione Granger was too smart to be one of Lavender's little two-week conquests!"

Lavender whirled around to see that it was Parvati glaring at us.

"Really Parvati? That wasn't very clever, and I can think of a million things wrong with that statement. We were best friends before we dated, and honestly I don't see why we still can't be," Lavender frowned.

Parvati just sat down opposite our place, folded her arms, and continued to glare at us.

Lavender sighed, "C'mon, let's go somewhere else," and lead me up to her bed in the dormitories.

Before I knew it, she was kissing me. I've always wanted to experience the drawn-out anticipation leading into a kiss, but it's always just hit me like that.

I cupped her head and ran both of my index fingers behind her ears and down her neck, like I used to do with Ginny. Lavender caught one of my hands with hers, and stroked up and down my wrist. Then she stroked through my hair and I felt a thrill down my back. I felt her jawline, then right below her collarbone, as if trying to remember the exact feel of every centimeter of skin.

We did nothing but kiss like this for the longest time, until she slowly pushed me down—lowering me onto my back—with her on top, straddling me but not sitting on me. We were both wearing slacks and sweaters over the normal button-down shirt. One of her hands went to my thigh, and then up. Her fingers quickly rubbed twice between my legs on top of my pants, then danced over the place where my slacks zipped shut.

"There's more where that came from later," she whispered in my ear, and I could feel her warm breath on the side of my neck. Her hands traveled up my stomach, and smoothly unhooked the clasp in the front of my bra. As though she already knew it was in the front?

"Divination does come in handy for things like that. Don't ever say it's not at least useful. Oh, and you're wearing incredibly sexy purple underwear," she told my ear. I was.

She pressed my nipple this way and that, and then squeezed it between two fingers while she sucked the skin at my neck, giving me a hickey. I was in a state of euphoria, even as she removed her mouth from my neck and her hands from under my blouse.

I flipped her so that now she was on her back and I was on top of her. The only difference was now I was between her legs instead of straddling her. I unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse and drew shapes just on the tops of her tits until she said, "My clasp is in front, too."

I undid the hook and felt a satiny bra and all of this round, womanly skin. I lightly bit into her neck before giving her a hickey as well. She squeezed my hips with both of her legs, and I slowly bucked my hips into hers a few times.

Finally she rolled onto her side, which put me on my side as well, and it felt like the snogging session was finished. It was fantastic, I thought, as I bathed in the glory of it all. 

And Merlin's pants did I want to be in her pants. 

Not now; I'd feel like a whore. But soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: This chapter does involve sex. Don't read it if you're not comfortable with that. Of course, probably more of you are going "Oooh. Sex " instead of "ew, no!" Enjoy! Reviews are fantastic.**

We were snogging as usual a few weeks later. When we finished we were in the process of standing up and putting our shirts back on (I was still in my bra, which happened to be green and silver…it made me feel like a naughty Slytherin girl). We hadn't yet done much below the waist. Lavender stood behind me with her arms tucked around my waist and whispered in my ear, "I want to make you moan worse than Moaning Myrtle next time."

I turned my head so I could kiss her without fully turning around.

"I only hope I can do the same to you!"

"Are you ready, though, Hermione? I want you, but I don't want to push you. I really like you, I think I almost love you. Just tell me if you're ready."

How adorable. "I almost love you too!" I felt like an idiot, but in a cute way. "What about this weekend, for our one-month? We could have a nice dinner in Hogsmeade and then go back to The Room of Requirement, so we could make sure to be absolutely alone."

"Sounds perfect."

………………….

We ate at Madam Puddifoot's, but I was far too anxious to pay much attention to what I was eating. Lavender looked stunning in her black shiny vest over a button-down and skinny jeans. It was a very sexy, androgynous look that made me want rip her amazing clothes off every time I looked at her. That was the thing about Lavender. When she was in a bra, she looked angelically feminine. But if she wore her clothes a certain way, she was built thinly enough to give it a slightly masculine sort of air that was far more attractive for her than a lot of guys, if that makes sense.

Finally we made our way back to the castle, which took longer than it would had we walked because we kept having to stop in order to kiss. We got into the Room, which I had had gorgeous candles placed in…as well as a bed with satiny purple sheets….

Her kisses trailed down my neck in between my tits. Her lips rested on them and then she slowly began to lick and run her teeth over them, making me squirm. My arms were behind my head and I inadvertently mussed my hair a bit.

Then her fingers trailed down my stomach in a spider-like way, as if she was playing me like a piano. She inserted first one finger, then two, into my opening. She pressed the clitoris up and down and made circles as she sucked on my ear. With her free hand she held my arse, pushing my hip up to achieve a better angle. Just her hand touching my arse would have turned me on, but it made me squeeze her fingers more.

She crawled backwards down my body and I helped her remove my slacks and panties. She nuzzled my stomach as her head moved past my stomach. Suddenly there was a tongue between my legs. Shutting my eyes in order to memorize the moment more fully, I felt a rush of adrenaline. So this was it. As she worked back and forth, I focused all my attention on every sensation. She came up and kissed me passionately as her fingers gracefully and lightly stroked behind my ears and neck, making me want her touch even more.

I kissed her back as if hoping my complete bliss would permeate through my lips into her. Lightly I bit her bottom lip. I slid my way down her body. I heard a sharp intake of breath as I plunged into her warm womanly parts. I worked my tongue around, hoping to find where it felt good, the nub, but I couldn't tell what was what, exactly. She kept breathing, though, so apparently what I was doing was working. After a bit I came up and planted my fingers into her pussy, and tried to repeat what she did to me. I first stroked lightly, then faster, and I used more of my hand to make her legs give a jolt. She didn't "finish", but eventually as much I was enjoying my first time, my hand was tired and I just wanted to cuddle. I slid off of her and lay on my side, holding her close.

"Wow, that was good Mione," Lavender said sleepily.

Truth is, I've always been a fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of girl. It was that way when I started Hogwarts. I'm usually good at acting like I've done something before when I haven't.

Wait…just "good"? I don't want to be "just good". I want to excel. That's what I've always been like, did she not know me at all? I suppose I can't be brilliant at sex right away. I was bad at riding brooms, and I accepted it. And this wasn't like riding a broom, she was a woman.

As I lay falling asleep next to my beautiful girlfriend, these things ran through my mind.

I can't wait to tell Ginny. I hope she'll be okay with it.

That was good…right?

I can't wait to do it again.

I'm happy I had sex, and it was a big deal and not a big deal in different ways.


	10. Chapter 10

My eyelids opened slightly as I lay on my stomach. I pulled the covers closer and saw Lavender sleeping next to me. She looked like she was sound asleep. It was Sunday, so there wasn't anything to do, so I decided to let her sleep. She was cute lying there with her hair tousled. I wish I could say that she was smiling like she was having a good dream or something, but she wasn't.

A half hour passed. I was getting bored, impatient, plus I was hungry and had to pee. But shouldn't those things not matter since I had a beautiful, sexy girl next to me? Shouldn't I not notice hunger, shouldn't I never be bored? Plus I didn't want to go to the bathroom and have her wake up by the time I got back, and think I left her.

After weighing the pros and cons for five minutes, I decided to run to the bathroom really fast. When I came back, she was just waking up, it looked like.

"Morning babe. Get sick of me that fast? I wanted you here when I woke up," she said with a tiny pout. It was a flirty pout. No, maybe it wasn't, maybe she was actually a bit upset but wanted to play it off as flirty. Shouldn't I know these things? No, it was a flirty pout.

"I really had to go pee, I'm sorry," I leaned down and kissed her standing over the bed.

"Come back to bed," she said playfully, pulling me back onto the bed.

"I'm actually really hungry," I apologized.

"I know what you can eat," Lavender suggested, flashing me a look that nearly ripped the clothes right off me.

"I know sweetie, but I'm actually completely starving for food right now. I could barely eat at Madam Puddifoot's last night," I apologized again as I played with her fingers.

She sighed, "Okay."

……………..

We sat down at breakfast just the two of us. I felt a little funny making conversation at first, but she talked about how nice I'd made the Room of Requirement (really, the room readied itself…I mean, I guess it could sort of read my mind, but she should know that it wasn't anything I specifically did). Also, I'd much rather hear that I was good in bed. Her words played over and over.

"Wow, Ginny, that was good."

Yeah, I got a "wow" in there. But "good" didn't seem to quite cut it. If I was really good she would have said it again. And my mind was swarming with "you were amazing"s to tell Lavender. But I didn't want it to be uneven.

"Thanks, yeah, I thought it was really nice, too. Everything," I said.

Just then Seamus came up to where we were sitting. "Oy, Lav, we've got that group project to work on for Divination…the mapping of our planets and how it works in our friendships and relationships. I can't believe we haven't started yet."

"Shit. I totally forgot. It's due tomorrow, right? Mione don't hate me for bugging out on you like this, especially after last night. I'd invite you to come, but I know I'd be desperately distracted and never get anything done."

"It's fine, I'm happy you're doing your work. I'll see you later, whenever you get done," I said. I was actually happy to have a bit of space to process last night, and I was dying to talk to Ginny.

A moment after Lavender had left, I heard someone running and quickly sitting down next to me. Ginny was there.

" 'Ello Love, I haven't seen you in awhile," Ginny sat turning toward me and cocked her head to one side with an arm propping up her head. Her hair was a sea of curls today.

"Yeah, I know," I said hurriedly. "Anyway, I've got something massive to tell you. Lavender and I had sex." My eyes were huge, I wanted to show her I was excited about it.

"Really, when?" she asked.

Whoa. Not the reaction I wanted. She wasn't frowning, but she wasn't smiling. When she had told me about having sex with Harry, her face was incredibly animated the whole time.

Flashback

"I finally had sex with Harry. I don't think it was exactly amazing physically, because it was my first time, but I love him so much. I mean, we had basically planned to have sex soon, but I never felt something that intense and we just went for it. We were kissing and fooling around, and usually as much as I love it there comes a point when I'm ready to stop, but I never wanted it to end and I wanted so much more. And he just pressed himself inside of me and it hurt a bit but it was _exhilarating _knowing that we were that close," she let out all in one breath. She was glowing, and it was breathtaking.

"Wow, I'm happy for you," I said as I gave her a hug. I thought about how Harry had held her in his arms in a really different way not too long ago. Last time I hugged her she was a virgin. I was probably way overthinking it, but it felt different. When we pulled back I glanced at her crotch, and it was definitely pretty weird thinking about Harry being inside that.

But she was gorgeous when she glowed.

End flashback.

It was only fair that she was happy for me having sex, when I was happy for her having sex. "Ehrm, last night. We had a really nice dinner and then we used the Room of Requirement. It was all done up romantically, and she said I was AMAZING." I fibbed.

She laughed a little, "Nice. Well, any details?"

I felt a little thrown off by the way she was reacting, but I dove into an account of some of last night's more sordid details.

"And that's basically it," I finished.

"How long have you been going out now?" Ginny's eyebrows were tilted up in the middle.

How could she not know it had been a month? I knew exactly how long she'd been dating Harry—an intimidating 17 months. She's my best friend—best friends are supposed to keep track of these things.

"A month," I said a little defensively.

"Okay, I really don't want you to take this the wrong way, but," she took a breath here. I hate it when people preface uncomfortable talks like that. "I think any sort of sex at _only_ a month is trashy. You're so much better than that, Hermione. You've got so much time to find yourself a long-term, love relationship. There should be more of an emotional connection than you get at a month." She reached to grab my hand.

Why was she holding my hand? Was I a baby who needed to be taken by the hand and taught how to act around people? Who was she to judge? And actually, I was eighteen. It was about time I'd gotten some action. I had finally stopped waiting around for Ginny, being satisfied with Ginny's little…pity snogs? And how did she know exactly how to measure the emotional connection in my relationship with Lavender? I liked Lavender. Maybe eventually it would be love. I was comfortable enough emotionally to have sex with her. I wouldn't have if I didn't feel like it was right.

As I pushed her hand away, I ranted, "Actually, I love her." Lie number one. "She's the best kisser I've ever kissed." Lie number two. "She loves me too." Probably lie number three. I could be a bad best friend too, by lying.

"You know that's not true, Hermione. You gave yourself to the first thing that came along. That's trashy."

"Harry was the first thing that came along for you, Gin, you should know sometimes it happens that way. And," I lowered my voice, whispering ferociously, "You're such a bloody hypocrite. Isn't it trashy to snog your best girl friend when you have a boyfriend that you supposedly love?" I was seething, but rather proud of myself. Take that, Gin.

Ginny's face fell. She blinked a few times, but it didn't look like she was holding back tears. She looked like she was going to say something, but then stopped and looked confused. I could see the wheels turning in her mind, and she finally settled on, "That's…_different_, Mione." She put a decided emphasis on "different".

"How?" I felt almost bad still asking her, when it had visibly upset her, but I needed to.

"It just is, so can we drop it, okay?" she furiously started buttering a biscuit. Her eyes were pleading with me.

"Fine," I said. It wasn't a bitter "fine", just "fine".

"So I've got to tell you about what Harry did yesterday…"

I could tell this was filler story. It was rather therapeutic getting all our emotions out, though.


	11. Chapter 11

It was getting late, I had to find Lavender. It was weird she'd gone this long without talking to me. Yeah, I was glad she was working on schoolwork—it made me feel like a good influence, but it was nearly dinner. Putting my book down, I left the Gryffindor common room. I didn't want to be clingy, but it was a legitimate thing to want to see her by now. Maybe she'd gone down to dinner, yeah.

Briskly I walked through the long corridors, past a few snogging couples. I saw Parvati (Padma?) out of the corner of my eye. No, it was Parvati, she was pressing someone with a skirt up against the wall. Unless Padma had gone for girls as well. It was dark, I couldn't see who she was kissing, so I stopped, pretending to fidget with my watch.

She looked sort of like Lavender… Parvati really had found a replacement…no, it…oh God no, no.

"Lavender?" I asked.

Lavender extricated herself from Parvati's arms. "Hermione, wait, I should have told you this…I really missed Parvati, she's my best friend, and I missed her as both. I couldn't have her at all in my life while we were dating…"

Great, already past tense. Super.

"…And now," continued Lavender, "I need her. You're an amazing girl, but I want Parvati so badly."

"Well," I took a deep breath, "I need someone who isn't going to flake out on me for someone who's supposedly better, Ginny did the same thing. You know I absolutely get the whole 'best friend' deal, I can't blame you for that. But how bloody unfair is it to tell me you think you love me, to have sex with me, to use some ruddy project excuse and then to cheat on me? I thought you thought I was so brilliant and that you wanted to live up to that, being with me. The day after we have sex, fantastic!" I let the sarcasm drip off the last bit of that speech.

"I don't know what else there is to say," Lavender looked at me like I was the one making this awkward. An apology would have been nice.

"I'm so done dealing with this, this was a waste of my time, I have better things to do," I turned, gathering all my dignity, and expected the tears to come. But they didn't. Maybe I was just numb from all the shock of it, yeah, that was it. I expected not to feel hungry, because it was a really shitty, disgusting thing Lavender had done, but I was hungry. Not ravenous and about to eat my feelings, but I definitely wanted food.

I walked into The Great Hall, and saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny sitting together. Harry was just joining Ginny and Ron, and Ginny looked over her shoulder at him, with a smile I'd give the world for. Harry leaned in gently, and they kissed while Ron made a motion like he thought it was gross. They seemed so together, and I wanted to join in that togetherness, that normalcy.

"Hi," I said brightly, sitting next to Ron, across from Harry and Ginny, "So Lavender just got back together with Parvati behind my back, which was lovely. Pass the biscuits?"

"I'm sorry," said Ron. He could be sincere sometimes. "If it helps, I got dumped for Parvati too. Here's to the Dumped-For-Parvati club!" he said, clinking his flask with mine. He put an arm around me and kissed the side of my head, but it didn't feel sexual or pushy or anything, just friendly.

"I'm so sorry," said Ginny, leaning forward on the table so she wasn't cuddling with Harry anymore. "We're gonna have a talk tonight, okay?" she nodded understandingly.

I didn't really feel like talking about Lavender at dinner much more, so I didn't. It was partially because I'd always hated admitting when I failed, but partially I just didn't feel like I needed to, which was weird.

…………………..

Later Ginny and I borrowed Harry's Invisibility Cloak and snuck out to the grounds. We found a place under a tree and talked.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't think Lavender was perfect, but I wanted something to work out for you. You're so beautiful and smart and passionate, you deserve someone who is every bit as good as you." Ginny squeezed my hand and let her arm go up my arm to pull me into a hug.

Her words—especially "passionate"—made me feel like I was curling up into a warm blanket. After she let me go from the hug, I looked back at her, and her green eyes were shining. Every inch of her face looked like something I wanted to capture in a painting. Her lips, especially, had a pout to them even though she was smiling. Not like she had overly large lips, but I just wanted to stare at them in that moment.

_This is probably the "feeling bad about Lavender" thing you were waiting for, you want someone and Ginny's there, that's all_, my head told me. _Kissing her right now would make a very complicated day even more complicated._

I figured I was supposed to say something here, so I said, "Yeah, I feel bad about it, but it'll work out. I'm an independent person." Saying that made me almost believe it.

"I wanna ask you something, and don't ask me why…but what was sex with a girl like?" Ginny bit her lip, and said the last bit very fast.

I'd already told her (did she just want to hear me talk about it again?), but I answered, "It was nice, definitely. She just stroked my clit a lot, and I got wet and it felt good, but…it's absolutely been better when I, ehrm, fantasized, before. As in touching myself, yeah, not just thinking about sex." Why did she want me to not ask her why? That seemed really weird, because Ginny definitely wasn't prude, and it was a completely normal question, I was supposed to tell my best friend things about my sexual experiences.

"Ooh, who do you fantasize about?" Ginny's eyes got big.

_You, obviously. Not that many others._ But no way was I going to give her that satisfaction.

"Just…in general. No one in particular." I couldn't look her in the eye, and I hoped she wasn't performing occlumency, reading my mind as to what I was thinking before. I decided to turn the tables on her, and asked, "Why did you not want me to ask why…about what sex with a girl was like?"

Ginny squirmed a little, "I don't know. Nevermind, just leave it."

I was SO DONE with "just leaving it". I always felt there was so much she wasn't telling me when it came to all aspects of sexuality. But I'd been through such a day—sex, then fighting with Ginny, then making up, then getting cheated on—that maybe I needed to let things be.

For now, at least.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I finally updated again! More reviews would be amazing. Enjoy! **

I was definitely getting over Lavender, and it was because I was too busy thinking of Ginny.

Dammit. I was never going to get her. She loved Harry. Why did I have to have this never-ending infatuation? I needed to find someone like Ginny, but there was no one like Ginny.

More than anything I needed to talk to her, to figure out what she thought about those times we used to snog. I should be able to talk to my best friend about things like this.

We entered the common room a few days later after classes. Ginny curled up in an armchair with her feet tucked under her, laying with her arms under her head on the arm of the chair. I layed on my stomach on the sofa next to her.

"So how's the break up going?" asked Ginny.

"I think I still want her in a physical way, or maybe I just want someone in a physical way… but she probably doesn't do friends-with-benefits or anything because she was very emotionally into Parvati, and she went back to Parvati," I steered the conversation toward friends-with-benefits, come on Ginny…

"Yeah," said Ginny.

This wasn't going to be easy. "What do you think about friends-with-benefits, Gin?"

"Well, I've never had one, so I can't really say, can I?"

"Yes, you have, Ginny," my voice was serious. "I need to know what it meant."

Ginny sighed. "I truly don't know, alright Hermione? I…I'm with Harry."

"But was it physical or emotional? With me," I added, clarifying.

She hesitated, "…Physical. Maybe emotional. I wanted to make you happy, I wanted to give myself a chance to try it because I figured I'd be with Harry forever. Everyone thinks we will." She bit her lip adorably and her voice faltered. "I don't know if I want to be with him forever. I should—I should be able to make these choices. I mean look at you—you don't feel like you have to be with anyone. You're fine on your own, you're strong and independent."

I didn't feel that way as often as I used to.

"But I—I can't hurt Harry, not after everything he's been through." She broke down in tears. I moved over to her armchair and stroked her hair and her back.

"Ginny, if you don't love him anymore you're hurting him more by being with him. He's had incredibly difficult times, but everything's alright now. Voldemort's gone, things are peaceful for the most part, it's fine. He'll get over it. You're not being fair to him by staying if you're not happy."

That sounded like a selfish excuse for getting what I wanted, but I did want things to go well for Harry—I'd helped him probably more than anyone over the past 7 years. We weren't as close lately as we used to be, but I still cared about him.

She took my hand, looked at my face, and then, as if afraid of being too close, turned her face away to look down at her chest. Finally she said, "I just…need more time. I'm so confused, Hermione. And I'm so jealous of how you know what you want, and aren't afraid of what people think."

That should have built me up, but I hurt so much for her that it wasn't flattering.

………..

A few days later, I was sitting with Ron and Harry at breakfast when the owls came. I rarely got parcels except for the Daily Prophet, but today there was a little slip of parchment surrounded by a red ribbon.

"I want to know what it's like to be with you, completely. But I don't want to hurt you if it turns out I'm not strong enough to do it forever. Come by the Room of Requirement tonight at midnight if you want."

I looked over at Ginny, who was just sitting down next to Harry. I made eye contact with her and nodded with a smile. It was torture trying not to smile too big, not to give anything away. She looked back at me with the same expression and I felt an adrenaline rush and my chest rise with anticipation.

……….

I was in the common room pretending to read as the hour neared eleven, then eleven-thirty, then I couldn't take it anymore. I dressed myself in a lacy red bra and matching thong, then covered myself with an old school-robe. My heart would not stop pounding as I made my way to the Room of Requirement. Needless to say, I hadn't been able to think about anything else all day.

Time had been creeping along while I was waiting in the common room, but now it seemed like I was at the door all too soon. Ginny was behind that door. Shit, maybe she wasn't. Maybe I'd be let down. It was far too much to ever hope for in the first place. I tried not to get too excited. I pushed the door open.

In front of me was a room every bit as beautiful as the one Lavender had set up—but better, because the best thing in the room was a beautiful redheaded girl laying on her stomach on the bed. She was in her white button-down shirt, but I could see a bluish-green bra underneath, and tiny lacy boy-shorts of the same colour.

"Wow," I breathed. Here she was, about to (hopefully) sweetly thrill me in the way I wanted to do to her. I saw a hint of nervousness in the way she looked at me, so I asked, "You sure you want to do this?"

"Hermione I want to, I need to, I'm absolutely positive," Ginny said seriously. She stepped toward me, her lips oh so close, to close to be real, and…


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Sorry to leave it at such a cliffhanger! **

**Warning for sex in this one, obviously. **

And then she kissed me more ferociously. Intensely. Passionately. Than I'd ever felt. Her lips sank into mine and truthfully it was a little sloppy, but it was too incredible for me to care. No more hiding my feelings—whatever her desire was (lust?), I was sure her excitement somehow made my hunger tangible.

I cupped her face, then the next thing I knew her hands quickly pushed my robe to the floor, slid up my back and unhooked my bra. I felt her touch my stomach and work my bra off. She clutched my tits and almost kneaded them, rubbing her thumbs over my nipples fast. One of her hands stayed at my tit, and she immediately—without slowly spidering and teasing—pressed her fingers to the outside of my thong, right on the sensitive tip of the outside of my parts.

Suddenly my thong was completely off, but she wasn't touching me yet. It seemed like an eternity as I throbbed, awaiting her touch—the anticipation was almost painful. Then she pushed me on the bed, hard. And then my completely radiant, stunning best friend who I was in love with was climbing on top of me. She was teasing my wet, wet clit with the length of her middle finger. Then Ginny squeezed it between two fingers while still rubbing.

I felt deliciously naughty as she lowered herself to the foot of the bed. I watched her beautiful face as she blew air up my inner thighs with those perfect lips in a perfect O shape. Ginny wrapped one arm over my thigh so I couldn't kick my legs up and went to work with her thumb and forefinger again.

She looked at my pussy the way a little boy eyes a new toy he can't wait to try. Except she knew what felt good, because she already had her own.

"I could do this all day, Hermione, you're a work of art down here."

I looked at her again as she said this and there was something so animal about seeing her, making eye contact, seeing all of myself, and seeing this act. I didn't want to look at Lavender that much when she was doing it, it felt more awkward. But this felt so, so right. I was getting wetter and wetter and it was too sweet, I was going to die it felt too good as she began to lick my nub into a hard little corner where it couldn't escape and was at her mercy.

I grabbed pillows and bit into them, sat up and then laid back down repeatedly—anything this pleasure made me do. As she worked her fingers back and forth, rubbing firmly up and down all over between my legs, I heard the sound my juices made, and it was sexy and carnal and I wanted to hear it louder. Yes, this was it, I came.

"Oh baby," The words came out of my mouth like a reflex. I moaned what I had previously thought was a cliched line no one actually said voluntarily. I should have known Ginny Weasley would change that.

Ginny had no sooner planted a kiss on top of it, than I ripped off her shirt and underwear as well, as if I was unwrapping the amazing present that she was. I let my hands find the warm place between her legs, and I swirled the wetness around her nub in circles. She was clean-shaven for me, as I had been for her. I was straddling Ginny so her legs were between mine, and she squeezed her legs together which also made her squeeze my fingers. I made my fingers vibrate in what was now a very tight space.

Going down to lick her, to taste her, felt so intimate. Here I was, making her wetter and tasting her response. Using my tongue to move over every inch of her, I used more and more pressure. I went back and forth over the entirety of it. I built up more pressure and went faster and faster, this way and that, just everywhere. Then I did the same thing with my fingers until she moaned and squirmed and her body shook with pleasure and she finished.

We pulled each other close at the same time and kissed. I hated knowing that this moment may not last, that we may never get to do _that_ again, but for now I wanted to bask in the deliciousness of recent past, to soak it up, to know that I appreciated it to the fullest extent. Her skin felt so smooth as I stroked her arm, as her stomach brushed up against mine. I wanted to feel as much of her skin against mine as I possibly could.

"Hermione I can't describe how that made me feel. You are _wonderful_," Ginny breathed as she sweetly kissed the tip of my head, and I melted. I hoped beyond hope she meant it.

"You are too, and so much more." I said.

All my muscles relaxed and I felt so peaceful, so…

I drifted off to sleep in Ginny's arms.

…………

I woke up the next morning to Ginny already awake and stroking my hair.

"Morning," she said a little shyly, peeking out from her messy locks of red hair. Her leg was next to mine, and so I rubbed my leg against hers.

She ran her thumb over my lip, and said, "This is amazing." She pressed her hand to my chest, not right on my breast so I don't know if she meant my tits or my heart, and said, "This is fantastic." Then her hands trailed underneath the covers and her hands trailed over my pussy for a moment: "And this…this is just wonderful."

I bathed in the moment for a bit, just basking in the beauty of it all. But, always the practical one, I had to know. I bit my lip and swallowed,

"Ginny, this was beyond anything I could ask for….but where do we go from here?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Thanks to those of you who are really excited about this story—I'm definitely more inspired and motivated when I get good reviews. I'm actually not exactly sure where I'm going to take this story, so be prepared for a bit of indecision. ****Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring. It wouldn't be realistic if everything happened too fast, though.**

"I want you to be completely honest, Gin…honestly," I added quickly.

Ginny looked down at the covers for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts, and then said, "Hermione, a ginormous part of me wants to be with you, but," she seemed to be choosing her words very slowly and carefully. "A part of me still does want to be with Harry. I'm just not sure how much. I wish I could be with you both, but I can't. I need awhile to think this through…I'm not sure how long."

I was glad she was finally being honest with me. I understood, but it still hurt.

"Oh, and Hermione, I think, until I figure this out….we need to not have sex or even snog. I think it'll make it more difficult to decide. I don't regret last night at all—far from it, but I do feel bad about… fully cheating on Harry this time." She kissed me on the lips for a few moments, then we broke away and I felt it was time to start dressing. I prayed that wouldn't be the last time I'd ever kiss her.

"You alright, 'Mione?" she asked. I guess I must have looked upset.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I was still so happy that the uncertainty didn't put too much of a damper on my day.

She was being honest with me, that was good, I thought as I pulled my robe on. To show that I was giving her space, I said, "I'll see you at breakfast," and left.

I went back to the dormitories so I could put some proper clothes on. After I had changed, I saw Harry coming down the stars from the boys' dormitories.

"Hermione!" he called.

Another girl (Lavender, probably) would have felt cocky having just slept with his girlfriend. I, however, felt like absolute shit the moment I saw him.

" 'Ello," was all I could say.

"You alright, 'Mione?"

Funny, your girlfriend asked me that not too long ago, my mind said. Maybe their shared reaction to me meant that they were made for each other.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I decided to go with the same answer. I almost wanted to confess, but that was Ginny's place, not mine. Harry said that he was starved and Ron was taking too long, so let's go down to breakfast, so we went.

"Morning Gin," Harry turned toward Ginny as she joined Harry and I at the table.

"Morning Harry," she said, greeting him with their usual morning kiss. It seemed a little sexier than usual—she moved her hand from his neck to his chest while kissing him. She barely glanced at me for a moment then looked away.

I'm not the bloody basilisk, Gin, I wanted to say. It was mind-bogglingly odd to know that I had slept with her, that just a few hours prior I had felt every part of her in the most personal way, and now she wasn't even looking at me.

Then the awkward silence ensued.

"You okay, Gin?" Harry looked at her hard. "The two of you are never this quiet."

"Yeah. It's just," Ginny looked like she had a sudden stroke of genius here, I could see the lightbulb just above her head, "Crookshanks wasn't feeling well last night, and I guess we could have taken him to the animal infirmary, but I had some potions Hermione said would make the cat," Here I felt a foot slide on my calf muscle under the table, "Feel better. And so we tried those last night and then he did. It's just we stayed up all night so I'm exhausted."

Not entirely a lie. She did make my "cat", if you will, feel quite a bit better last night. That's what she meant.

Ron joined the table just then, "What are you talking about?"

"Crookshanks," said Harry. "Ginny and Hermione took care of Crookshanks last night."

"Oh," Ron said, "I'll admit it, Hermione, your cat's alright—but I wouldn't want to stay up half the night with it."

I caught Ginny's eye and we both started laughing, it couldn't be helped.

"What?" asked Harry, who exchanged looks with Ron, clearly confused. When we couldn't respond I just shook my head and Ginny managed a "nothing". Harry finally said, "Okay, it's better than a few minutes ago, at any rate."

It wasn't even that funny, but I think we desperately needed something to lighten the mood.

……………

I found myself watching Harry and Ginny that day. Before, I would sometimes avert my eyes when they kissed, but now I wanted to observe for some clue of what her decision would be. I felt a little pathetic, and I hated being this emotional (read as: weak) a person, but I couldn't help it.

Now the three of us were dropping Ginny off at Charms on our way to Transfiguration.

"See you later, I love you Ginny," said Harry. He didn't lean in to kiss her just yet. Maybe this was the part where she was supposed to say, "love you too."

She didn't say it. Score one for me? Instead she wrapped her athletic but graceful arms around his neck, like a ballerina, and took her time kissing him. No, maybe not score one for me. They were beautiful together, it's just that she'd be more beautiful together with me.

Now he was no longer enclosing her. She waved and said, "See you later, Hermione," with a look I interpreted as apologetic.

Maybe it was like Quidditch. Harry could have been scoring points with the Quaffle forever, but maybe I would be the one to catch the Golden Snitch and win.

Look at me making really bad Quidditch metaphors. I must be in love.

…………

I was walking back from Ancient Runes later when I felt a tap on my shoulder that I knew was Ginny.

"You alright, Hermione?" she asked. If I had a galleon for every time I'd been asked that today. We were on a stairwell full of people, so I couldn't really respond in too much detail.

"Yeah." I felt like there should be a million things I should say, but what was there to say? I just had to wait. "Take your time," I added.

"I might have been a little too flirtatious at breakfast, Love," My heart jumped a little at her calling me Love—she hadn't in quite some time. But wait, she was too..?

"I mean," she continued, lowering her voice and pulling me into a less-populated hallway, "I can't kiss you or anything, at least now, which is awful, so making innuendos probably doesn't help, right? I was still just feeling the energy from last night, and it kept going.." She looked like she wanted to touch me, just hold my hand—anything—or was it just my wanting that made me interpret it like that? But she looked like she was hesitating, visibly holding herself back.

I wanted to kiss her so badly right then. "No, I understand, it really is fine. It was fun at breakfast, and it would have been much weirder had it been completely platonic," I said truthfully.

"Okay, well, I've got to go. See you later," said Ginny rather quickly, and she left down a staircase that had just changed.


	15. Chapter 15

A few days passed, then a week. Ginny and I spoke, and while it wasn't exactly formal it wasn't normal either.

Harry approached me sometime around this time, after we were coming out of Charms one day.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you. Ginny's been acting weird lately. She's either giving me the cold shoulder or completely all over me."

"Ehrm. Which is she more?"

"I dunno, probably all over me, which is nice," (yeah, I knew firsthand how nice that could be), "But it's very different from how she usually is. D'you know what's going on?"

I felt bad lying, and I saw a way to get my answer a bit faster. "I think you need to talk to Ginny, not me," I said, placing an emphasis on "need". I didn't exactly say that I knew what was going on, but I figured he would talk to her and get it out of her. And hopefully not mention that I had told him to talk to her, because that might piss her off.

But bloody hell, how long did she need? But I couldn't push her, I couldn't be impatient and show how frustrated I was, because she wouldn't want to be with someone who pressured her like that. Maybe I shouldn't be tap-dancing around her like that, though. If we were going to be in a relationship we had to be able to be straightforward, tell each other how we felt. Maybe I shouldn't be in a relationship with someone who couldn't make up their mind. Still, it wasn't like she had come to me and said, "I'm staying with Harry," so things were technically still looking good, right? Also, I'd been thinking a lot about the fact that never again would I _not know_ what it was like to be with her sexually. In other words, I would always know what it was like, always have the memory of it, for better or worse.

After dinner that night, Harry rubbed Ginny's arm and said, "Let's go talk, Gin." She nodded like she wasn't fully coherent. I got that feeling like someone lit something in the pit of my stomach, the same feeling I got when Ginny's hands were gliding over my stomach. A pinch of hope mixed with a tablespoon of reminiscence and anticipation with a dash of pain.

"Hey, Hermione, why don't we hang out? We haven't for a long time," Ron was saying.

Any other time, I would have loved to, but not now. "I've really got to go to the library and just study alone for a bit tonight, but definitely another time, alright?" I made an excuse.

I had seen which staircase Harry and Ginny were heading up, out of the corner of my eye. I followed them, being careful not to be seen. Even without the invisibility cloak, I'd practiced "not being seen" well enough with Harry and Ron over the years that I was confident I wouldn't be caught. Besides, Harry and Ginny were too deep in thought to be concerned with who was around them, I thought.

They were now in the passage, heading toward a classroom. I couldn't go in there—but I could try summoning an Extendable Ear from my dormitory. If Harry could summon his broom from the castle for the Triwizard Tournament, maybe I could get one from my dormitory. It wasn't far.

"_Accio Extendable Ear_," I breathed. Nothing. I guess Harry had it on the Quidditch pitch already. It didn't come. Could I conjure one? No. Helpless to do anything more, I conjured up an ordinary glass and pressed it to the door. My heart was thudding on like it was going to jump out my tit as I strained my ears.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" Harry asked. Silence followed. Then Ginny was sobbing incoherently, probably even to Harry.

"You don't seem like yourself at all, Ginny, and I want to help you," Harry sounded terribly sweet and upset, and I felt awful.

"Alright, Harry I love you, but there's someone else too and I'm not sure how I feel and I hate it! I'm a h-horrible g-girlfriend to you," Ginny blurted, her voice growing heavy. She sounded like she was sitting down, not looking at Harry.

Painful, painful silence ensued. After awhile Harry said, "Did you…" he clearly did not want to say the word, "…cheat?"

I heard more crying. She must have either nodded or he took her crying for "yes". I wanted to barge into the room and put my arms around her, tell her it was going to be okay, comfort Harry too. They wouldn't even need to know that I was the reason for this, I just wanted to make everything better.

"With who?" Harry sounded angry, desperate. I hadn't heard him like that in a long time. "Dean?"

"No."

"Then who is he?" Harry was frustrated_. Don't make it any worse for _him, Gin, I thought, _just get it over with._

"It's not a 'he'," Ginny sounded tired and defeated.

Harry said nothing. I could only imagine his reaction. Was he disgusted? Shocked? Did this make it better or worse? Finally, in a low voice, Harry asked, "Hermione?"

"Yes," Ginny spoke in a very small voice.

"I don't know what to say," said Harry, who sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "Ginny I hate this, but we have to break up." I heard him sniffle and clear his throat, and it sounded like he was walking out of the room, so I went the opposite direction of the Common Room so he wouldn't see me.

As much as I felt sorry for Ginny, I did wish she had what it took to just _come out and say it_. But I guess I didn't know what it was like to love Harry, too. I wanted her to stand up and proudly say that she wanted to be with me and only me.

After I waited a few minutes, I went back and slowly opened the door of the classroom Ginny was sitting in a desk with her head in her hands.

"Ginny…" I said softly. She looked up at me and I walked over to kneel by the desk. She squeezed my hand tight.

"Hermione, I'm going to tr- no, I'm going to _be_ brave for you, but you need to help me, I don't know how everyone's going to react, especially my family."

"Ginny they _love_ you, you've got the best family there is," I said. I hadn't come out to my parents yet, it was true, but they had a few gay – even lesbian-- friends, so I suppose it couldn't be too bad. I usually only saw them in the summer, though, and although I loved them we weren't very close—I was normally too preoccupied with my studies and everything going on in the wizarding world to contact them much—and what with all the Dark things that used to happen, I couldn't tell them much. I might tell them when I saw them in the summer. It never seemed like a big deal, though.

"I know, I know," Ginny said, and pressed her lips to mine. It seemed like it had been forever since she'd done that. I was ready to devour her, savour every touch right in the classroom, but as I began to rub her shoulders and neck with more force, she stopped me.

"I just want to be held right now, Hermione."

So she sat in my lap and held me tight as if she wanted our skin to meld into one. Every so often I would plant a kiss on her cheek or head. It was heavenly just being next to her. Eventually she fell asleep in my arms, and I conjured a pillow for us both and nuzzled into her as we drifted off together.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: This is it! I felt this was a good ending point…I didn't want to have to go through any angst of Harry's reactions, I just wanted to celebrate that they are now together. The first song represents Hermione's initial perspective on the relationship, and the second song represents Ginny's point of view and how it is now. Hope you enjoyed! **

**Also, I'll definitely be writing more…I have a Logan/Rory (Gilmore Girls) oneshot that will be up in a few days, so check that out if you're into that. Then I'll probably write some more Harry Potter and/or femmeslash.**

_Fell in love with a girl  
fell in love once and almost completely  
she's in love with the world  
but sometimes these feelings  
can be so misleading  
she turns and says "are you alright?"  
I said "I must be fine cause my heart's still beating"  
She says "Come and kiss me by the riverside, bobby says it's fine he don't consider it cheating"_

_Red hair with a curl  
mellow roll for the flavor  
and the eyes for peeping  
can't keep away from the girl  
these two sides of my brain  
need to have a meeting  
can't think of anything to do  
my left brain knows that  
all love is fleeting  
she's just looking for something new  
and I said it once before  
but it bears repeating_

_-Fell in Love with a Girl, by the White Stripes_

The next morning when I woke up, I saw her eyelids just fluttering awake, too.

"Sleep well?" she asked with a smile.

"Mmhmm," I murmured.

"That's good. So," she bit her lip a little awkwardly, and then breathed, "You're mine."

It was that simple, but that fantastic. I answered her with a kiss and felt like I melted into her completely.

"But we can't be too mean to Harry, it's not going to be easy for him to see us together," This time it was I who spoke, voicing what I sensed she was feeling anyway. I wanted her to know that I understood; plus I felt bad for Harry as a friend. "We can't be all over each other around him for quite awhile—he's hurt enough as it is."

"Exactly," Ginny agreed. " 'Mione, I'm so lucky to have you, I can't believe I waited all this time."

"You're from Gryffindor, you've always been brave enough to do this, and the wait only makes me appreciate it more." It would have sounded revoltingly cheesy in any other context. It felt so comfortable, so _right_, and safe, and like this was exactly what I should have been doing for years. The way she looked at me, it was like her eyes were casting every emotion into mine, they were so deep and penetrating. She was just lying there, not even doing anything very sexy, and yet she was intensely beautiful and sexy—even more so, because she wasn't trying to be.

And in that moment, I knew it was going to be okay, too. I knew she was mine for a long, long time. I knew I wouldn't wake up from this dream. I _could _believe she was mine, even though she had seemed so far out of reach before.

_You've already won me over in spite of me  
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet  
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are  
I couldn't help it  
It's all your fault_

_Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole  
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for  
That's not lip service_

_……_

_You're the best listener that I've ever met  
You're my best friend  
Best friend with benefits  
What took me so long_

_-Head Over Feet, by Alanis Morissette_


End file.
